A/N: As I couldn't answer everyone in person, I just want to thank you for all your support and criticism! I am really sorry if I made Amy seem stupid, that wasn't my intention. Of course she knew his speech at the seminar about work and family, but I thought she would be in a real emotional turmoil after that happened without planning and she might have been unsure if Sheldon meant that speech simply in terms of not having ruled it out in the distant future and how he would react to this new reality and more changes. If she had thought logically about it, she would have known to just tell him, but she had been afraid and the hormones were doing the rest. And then it was a bad combination with Sheldon not getting any hints and Amy misinterpreting his reaction. I am sorry if it seemed OOC, but I still think it might be possible for her to act in this way. She isn't always logical and rational in the show as well;-) So here we continue now. Thank you so much again Hazelra7 for beta-reading!
After the door had slammed shut, Sheldon was still sitting in his spot, shaking his head in confusion. "What did I do now?" Then he got up and went after her, shouting, "Hey, what about our sleepover? You can't just screw the relationship agreement, even if that section is still on probation!" But he didn't get any answer.
Running down the stairs, he mumbled to himself, "Oh boy, I really need to get a better grip on social interactions…"
When he came out of the apartment building, he just saw Amy driving away. Shaking his head again, he went back in. On his way upstairs he recalled the conversation they just had, but apart from wanting to make love to Amy there was nothing that sprung to mind.
Had he been too forthcoming with wiggling his eyebrows? – But she had never minded before when he initiated it.
Was she insulted when he called her insatiable? – But she had smiled at him after that remark.
Was it about Bernadette? Should he have feigned interest in her condition? – But that wasn't his business, and she knew he had never participated in the girl's gossip before.
Amy had gotten upset after she had shown him that sonogram. Perhaps it was social convention to gather around the image and participate in hippie talk when one of your friends was pregnant?
He entered his apartment, sighed and grabbed his abandoned tea mug again. The sonogram was still lying on the table, so he took it up with the other hand, searching for clues. Still nothing out of the ordinary. Oh, there was a name in tiny letters on the corner he had missed earlier…
The tea mug slipped out of his hand, shuttering into pieces and leaving a messy puddle on the floor, but he didn't even notice.
Amy Farrah Fowler. Three tiny words that had just turned his world upside down. Just like five years ago when he was blackmailed into entering that coffee shop.
He recalled their conversation again. She had been so hesitant, her fingers had been shaking, but he had thought she was just cold, warming her hands on the tea mug. When she had been talking about making love… that hadn't been to turn him on this time… And then, as she had shown him the ultrasonic scan… she had been shaking and holding her breath… and he had told her, 'I still don't see how this affects me…'
Now even Sheldon gathered he had messed this up… big time. 'I won't bother you again. Goodbye, Sheldon …' Those were her last words… what had she meant by that?
When he came to from his stupor, he clutched the image close to his heart, rushed over to Penny's, knocked and entered immediately.
Penny was watching TV, looking up at him in astonishment. "Hey, what's up? You only knocked once, are you alright?"
She saw Sheldon looking at her with wild eyes, his hand clutching at something on his chest. "Penny, I'm in a hurry now. I still had some knocks in the bank from prom. Although in the time needed to explain this, I could have knocked in the usual manner. Come on, I need you to drive me to Amy now!"
"Honey, I've just had a bottle of wine all by myself 'cause none of the ladies cared to participate. You don't want me to drive you, believe me," Penny said, getting up nevertheless.
"Then give me your keys! Leonard's still at work, I need to get to Amy now, she taught me how to drive! Please, it's urgent!" Sheldon was pacing to and fro in front of her door now while she came over to him in turtle speed as it seemed to him.
"Oh Sweetie, what did you do this time? Shouldn't she be with you for your sleepover?" Penny asked, now getting worried, but gave him her keys.
"Yes, she should, and I'm going to make it right," he said in a determined voice, turning around and running down the stairs already.
"Alright, you're welcome, drive save – it's the company's car, try not to damage it," Penny called after him, shaking her head. Was she even allowed to let him drive it?
Penny tried to call Amy, but she seemed to have her phone switched off. She knew Amy had been upset about Bernadette's news, and she probably told Sheldon about it, and most likely he had made some dumb-ass comment about it. Yes, that would make sense. Poor Amy, how she still put up with all that… But he had gone after her, so there was still hope. She shrugged her shoulders and went back to the TV, confident they would work it out in their own way.
The drive to Glendale was a blur. Sheldon didn't know how he managed, but he made it in one piece and even faster than the speed limits allowed. What he would do when he arrived he hadn't figured out yet. There was no plan; he just knew that he needed her with him.
"Amy." Knock, knock, knock.
"Amy." Knock, knock, knock.
"Amy." Knock, knock, knock.
No answer. Why doesn't she answer? That's not very polite!
"Amy, open up!" Knock, knock, knock.
"I know you're there!" Knock, knock, knock.
"Your car's outside!" Knock, knock, knock.
Still no reply. He knocked even louder, shouting her name this time.
"Amy!" Knock, knock, knock.
"Amy!" Knock, knock, knock.
"Amy!" Knock, knock, knock.
He searched for her spare key frantically. When he inserted the key and opened the door, he finally heard her.
"Go away!" A strangled voice called from the bedroom, followed by sobbing sounds. He rushed through the TARDIS doors, never been so glad to hear her voice.
Amy was curled up in her bed, her back facing him. It broke his heart as he saw her lying there, shaking and crying. Just a year ago he would have doubled back at such a sight, but now he just wanted to hug and comfort her. Tentatively he took a step further towards her, one hand still clutching the sonogram, the other reaching out for her…
"I said, go away," she cried with ragged breath, shaken by sobs.
"Heard you the first time," he said, still inching closer, but his arm hanging limply at his side again.
Amy sat up in a hunched posture, her back still facing him, letting her hair fall in front of her face to hide her tears. "What do you… still want here?" she asked in a quavering voice. She wrapped her arms around her, swaying back and forth between sobs trying to calm herself.
"Amy… you said goodbye and that you wouldn't bother me again… I was so afraid when you didn't open the door," he started in a strained tone, now bold enough to sit down next to her but not daring to touch her yet.
Amy shook her head. "Well, I'm alive… very much so… so you can leave now. I understand. You've made it… perfectly clear… this doesn't concern you," she said haltingly.
Then she shot him a short glance with puffy eyes and pointed to her nightstand. "I've already signed the… termination note on the relationship agreement… you can take it with you." She sniveled, trying to speak in a normal voice but failing miserably. She turned away from him again.
Sheldon looked at her with wide eyes. "Why would you do this? All I was saying was that Bernadette doesn't concern me. You haven't made yourself very clear, little lady! I just found out that it was your sonogram after you left." Amy glanced over to him again as he opened his hand, revealing the picture of the tiny, bean-shaped embryo and unconsciously started to softly caress it with his thumb. Her jaw dropped as she saw the loving gesture.
Sheldon was still looking at the picture. "You know I'm not good with getting cues, you have to convey clear messages! And I have no intention of leaving you." He held her face up with his hand under her chin and looked at her earnestly so that she could see the truth in his eyes.
But Amy retreated and shook her head, not daring to believe what he said. "Of course you will leave me! You're just not thinking rationally right now!"
Sheldon gave her a lop-sided grin and inched further towards her. "I might be insulted if I didn't know better that it's just your hormones talking."
Amy was still in denial. After all the sorrows she had the last week this couldn't be resolved that easily. At least she wasn't sobbing anymore and faced him again. "No, this is all wrong. This is the part where you panic and never come back!" She objected, her lips quivering.
"No," Sheldon said calmly and confident, tucking her hair behind her ears and stroking her cheeks with a soft touch. He had made up his mind already some time ago, he just realized it now. Okay, here it comes… "This is the part where you happily accept to move in with me so that I can take care of you and the baby." He bit his lip and searched her eyes, trying to gauge her reaction.
Amy blinked. In a final attempt for all of it to make sense, she stammered, "Sheldon, you… you'd better freak out now… so that we can g-get it over with… I don't understand anything anymore… You d-don't want us to live together," she suddenly sobbed helplessly and overwhelmed, covering her face with her hands as her tears started to fall again.
Sheldon gently took her hands in his and kissed her fingers before he put them down in her lap. Amy hiccupped and bit her lip, trying to get her tears under control. He sighed. That was not the reaction he had expected. Convincing her in such an emotional state was hard work. But Sheldon Cooper was never one to give up easily. "Again you assume to know what I want, even though I just stated the opposite. Why would I tell you what I want is not what I want?"
Amy still didn't dare to believe him. He could never simply accept such an epic change. She sniffed and looked down at their fingers entwined in her lap and tried to keep them from quivering. "Be-because you're… you're confused… you just proposed living together because you got me pregnant!"
"Do I look confused?" He asked very calmly, gently cupping her face in both hands, looking at her intently while his thumbs wiped away her tears. Amy looked back at him, seeing the love in his eyes.
"Amy. I know how much I hurt you with running away last summer, and I've already promised you to never do that again. Besides, I've already admitted to you that I can't seem to sleep without you anymore. With all our sleepovers there's now only one or two days left each week where we're not living together. And if you want to know how I feel about starting a family… well, we've already got Guiseppe… and you should watch that video from the seminar again. Nothing has changed. I love you. We're in this together, and I wouldn't want it any other way." He halted, and as an afterthought he added, "And by the way, you should know the best chance of generating high-intelligent offspring is now when we're not too old."
Amy couldn't help but smile at his irresistible logic. "You know I love you too. But this changes everything, Sheldon! How can you be so calm?"
"Well… you took care of the freak-out already. No need to repeat that," he shrugged and licked his upper lip. He put his arm around her shoulders, pulled her closer to him and stroked her hair. Amy slowly started to relax and pulled her arms around him, hugging him back in a tight embrace. Inhaling his scent had a calming effect. She exhaled, her breath finally returning to normal. They stayed like this for several minutes, close to each other with Sheldon stroking her hair and resting his chin on her head while Amy listened to his heartbeat, calm and steady. After she thought she'd lost him, she never wanted to let him go again.
"Since when have you known?" He finally asked, kissing the top of her head.
Amy sighed and started to explain, still nestled in his arms. "A month ago, I first missed my period. But I had so much work to do for the conference; I blamed it on the stress and didn't think about it further. But then last week I missed it the second time. I began to worry and run some tests in the lab on Sunday. I couldn't believe it and repeated the test on Tuesday. The hCG hormone concentration had doubled. That ruled out the germ cell tumor hypothesis… It all made sense then that I was feeling so tired all the time… and my breasts were more sensitive… For the final confirmation I went to the doctor this morning and got our… Shellybean picture… Oh Sheldon, I had been so worried the whole week…"
Sheldon had done the math as well. "That means it must have happened around the time of our seminar… wow, we were doing great that day," he smiled, thinking back. "And this whole week I wasn't sure, but I got the impression that something was bothering you. You told me you had so much work, and that seemed as good an explanation as any… But I thought our relationship was based on honesty and trust. Why hadn't you told me earlier?"
Amy pulled back a little so she could look at him again. "Uhm… you don't have the greatest history of gratefully accepting changes... I just didn't know how to broach the subject…"
"I guess you're right, I can't blame you for that," he nodded and smiled self-deprecatingly. "Wow, this is a big step indeed."
"Aren't you curious how this could have happened at all? I thought you were going to blame me," Amy asked in a small voice, looking down at her lap.
"Despite what the others may think, I'm not that clueless! After all, that's what making love is designed for. And why would I blame you? I know your strict schedules and impeccable routines, and I've accepted the residual risk of 0.1 percent to get pregnant after all. However, now that you've got me thinking…" He paused, and Amy was afraid of what might come next.
But Sheldon was actually smiling broadly now. "Of course, why hadn't I considered that! The 0.1 percent is only valid for normal people. After all, I excel at everything I do. It's only logical to assume that I also have superior sperm," he finished proudly.
Amy couldn't help it, she had to giggle at that comment. He looked at her confused, because he had been serious. She smiled at him reassuringly. "You certainly do excel at this…"
"Based on your references to a deity in combination with my name, I've come to the same conclusion," he said, kissed her on the temple and asked, "Now, what do you think about coming home with me? Guiseppe has been waiting all alone."
"Coming home… I love the sound of that," Amy smiled. "But… how did you get here so fast anyway?" she suddenly asked.
Sheldon smiled at her proudly. "Oh, I borrowed Penny's car. You might be delighted to hear that I can drive pretty fast in times of need."
"I'm glad to hear that. I see that I taught you well, Padawan," she grinned now, looking up at him through her eyelashes.
Sheldon gulped. "Don't you know what you're doing to me woman, when you use that Star Wars quote correctly?" He said hoarsely.
"I know," Amy continued with the Han Solo quote, and then his lips were on hers while they reclined to the bed. Driving home could still wait a bit, after all.
